<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Bubbles the Robot by ElliotOrion</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25133350">Bubbles the Robot</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElliotOrion/pseuds/ElliotOrion'>ElliotOrion</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Age Regression/De-Aging, Caregiver Steve Rogers, Classification AU, Gen, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, Littles Are Known, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Natasha Romanov Is a Good Bro, Non-Sexual Age Play, Pacifier - Freeform, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, little Tony Stark</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 10:36:12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,802</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25133350</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElliotOrion/pseuds/ElliotOrion</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony Stark was many things. Billionaire, philanthropist, Iron Man, People Magazine’s #1 Hottest Bachelor three years straight… But what he was not, was a little. </p><p>Nope. Definitely not. On all forms, legal and not so legal, he was a baseline, part of the 70% of the population who just sort of chilled. Even Mr. Eyepatch Fury thought he was a baseline. Which he was. Yep. Totally. Definitely not a little struggling to never, ever drop. Which definitely wasn't going to backfire on him. </p><p>Nope. Definitely not.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Clint Barton &amp; Phil Coulson, James "Bucky" Barnes &amp; Natasha Romanov, Steve Rogers &amp; Tony Stark</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>428</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Marvel AgePlay Worth Reading</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Bubbles the Robot</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>i have been binge reading "littles are known" (or classification aus, or nsap, or whatever you want to call them) fics and i just had to add my own to the mix. so this happened. I think i'm happy with it? i think. yea. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy it because i definitely had fun writing it. lmk if you'd want more with this, or more non-sexual age play/classification au fics, because i adore writing them and I've got plenty of ideas. If you're interested in an explanation of this type of fic, I've included it in the endnotes! Enjoy!!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Tony Stark was many things. Billionaire, philanthropist, Iron Man, People Magazine’s #1 Hottest Bachelor three years straight… But what he was not, was a little. </p><p>Nope. Definitely not. On all forms, legal and not so legal, he was a baseline, part of the 70% of the population who just sort of chilled. Even Mr. Eyepatch Fury thought he was a baseline. Which he was. Yep. Totally. </p><p>Definitely not secretly a little struggling to never drop. A thing that, according to Jarvis, was “extremely unhealthy” and “causing hormone irregularities that could lead to permanent issues with his heart, liver, and everything else.” </p><p>Apparently, it was recommended by most doctors for a little to drop two or three times a week, for more than six hours, at minimum to maintain proper hormonal functions. Apparently, most doctors would strongly disagree with someone half dropping only once every few months when they could not longer physically stop it. </p><p>Even then, Tony never fully reached his headspace. </p><p>Which he didn’t have. Obviously. Because he wasn’t a little. He was a baseline, according to the letter he was sent when he was fifteen, just like every other fifteen year old.<br/>
Of course, that was the second letter he got. After Howard had bribed the hell out of them to change it. Tony never even saw the first one, actually, though he knew what it would say. Howard read it before he or his mom could, and immediately tore it up. He’d slapped Tony, snarled out something about “fixing Tony’s mistakes,” and left for his office. </p><p>Howard was always so much crueler after that first letter came in. </p><p>And so Tony pretended that he wasn’t having to secretly buy pull-ups because he, like most littles, had poor bladder control. He resolutely ignored all of the specialty little stores full of adult sized cribs and pacifiers and clothes with cartoon characters on them. He never watched any kids shows or let himself sleep with stuffed animals or anything ever that could possibly trigger him into dropping. </p><p>He had to be careful. With how infrequently he let himself be little, it didn’t take much anymore. And it was getting worse now, with Iron Man and the Avengers and the constant nightmares and fighting and stress and - and… </p><p>But it was fine. He was fine. Stark men were made of iron. And they were never, ever little.</p><p>Howard made sure he knew that. </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>“Sir, you are showing signs of dropping. I suggest you stop working for tonight.” Jarvis interrupted Tony’s train of thought about… what was he thinking about? His head was fuzzy. </p><p>Oh, right. Not dropping. That’s what he was thinking about. He had a project to finish for Pepper, and Clint needed his bow fixed after someone or other broke it, and he wanted to get started on Natasha’s new widow bites, her old ones had too long of a recharge time, he could definitely fix that, maybe he could work a small arc reactor into them... </p><p>“Sir.” </p><p>“Huh? Right, right, uh… Right, I just need coffee, that’s all.” Tony set down the screwdriver he was using, something was jammed in Mach 51 and he was trying to get the panel open but the jammed bit was apparently the panel itself. </p><p>“You’ve been awake for fifty eight hours, sir.” </p><p>“I didn’t ask.” Tony kicked away from the work table, biting down a “whee!” as he rolled across the room to the coffee machine. </p><p>“That coffee machine is broken.” </p><p>“Oh, right, yea, I was going to fix that, wasn’t I? Oh well, guess it’s up to my floor then.” He headed to the elevator, definitely not nodding off or getting startled when the doors opened. There was still coffee in the pot from… earlier, lets just say earlier, so he poured himself a cup and went to head back downstairs. </p><p>Except the elevator doors didn’t open. </p><p>“Hey Jarvis, why aren’t you opening the doors?” Tony rubbed his eyes, really hoping it was some hallucination or something rather than something faulty with Jarvis’ code.<br/>
“There are three protocols currently preventing me from letting you back to your lab.”</p><p>“List them.”</p><p>“Tony Get Some Fucking Sleep Protocol as edited by Mrs. Potts, Staff Babysitter Protocol, and Protocol X.” </p><p>“Shit there are three. Wait, X? No, no, the last X was only last week!” And he’s sure of it, it was right after they got called to handle the guy who broke Clint’s bow, and Clint hadn’t pestered him about the bow yet meaning it had to have been less than a week. </p><p>“Yes sir, as I have mentioned thirty three times, the need for Protocol X has been increasing as you are experiencing an increase in symptoms due to - “</p><p>“I’ve got it, I’ve got it! Why did I program you with sass again?” Tony groaned, rubbing his eyes in a very not-little way. </p><p>“I believe because you thought it would be fun, sir.” </p><p>“Oh fuck off. Fine, alright, let’s just do this and get it over with.” He went back to the kitchen to set down his coffee since he wasn’t supposed to have coffee during Protocol X. The mug was mostly empty. He hadn’t drunk any of it though, had he? </p><p>Tony looked back over at the entrance to the elevator, where there was a very clear and very large coffee puddle, then down at his hands, which were badly shaking. And covered in coffee. </p><p>“Oh.” Maybe that’s why working had been hard lately. </p><p>Jarvis may have a point with that symptoms thing. He usually does. </p><p>Ignoring the coffee spill for now, Tony wiped off his hands before heading to his bedroom, locking the door behind him. He knew Protocol X, which was definitely not for when he was getting too close to a drop or needed to be close to a drop because of health concerns, involved preventing any access to his floor, even by Pep or Rhodey. Unless his health was immediately in danger, but that was it, no other override codes would work. But locking the door made him feel better.</p><p>Under his bed was the simple brown chest with the not so simple thumbprint scanner to open it. And inside… </p><p>“Bubbles!” The giggle was all but torn out of him as he reached for the plush robot inside. It was next to his favorite quilt ever, the one his mama gave him when he was a baby with the piggies and the cows. It was too small for him now, not made for adult-sized babies, but it was super duper soft and he loved it so much. On top of the quilt was the last thing in the chest, a plain white binkie. </p><p>But before Tony could grab his stuffie and his paci and curl up on the bed with his pig blankie, there was a ringing alarm from his phone. Then a bigger one from the speakers, before Jarvis immediately shut it off because loud noises scared Tony when he was too close to little space. </p><p>“I am very sorry sir. An Avengers call has just been sent out. I will tell the Captain that you are injured and unable to assist.” Jarvis said, artificial annoyance very clearly coming through. </p><p>“No, I - I need to go.” Tony snatched his hand back from his doll like it’d burned him. “I’m an Avenger. I need to go.”</p><p>“Sir, you cannot go in your current condition.” </p><p>“Shush.” He shook his head, only sort of managing to shake off the haze he was falling into. “Okay. Call a suit, I’m getting into the undersuit.” </p><p>“Sir - “</p><p>“Mute.” He changed into the stiff undersuit, with all its sensors built-in for easy communication with Jarvis, before running out to the balcony and the waiting suit. </p><p>“Morning Capsicle. Is it morning?” Tony called as soon as the coms connected, shooting across town to his teammate's locations. </p><p>“Lunchtime actually. The pizza was on its way,” Clint mourned. </p><p>“Can we focus on the hellhounds instead of the pizza, boys?” Cap grunted. </p><p>“Hell hounds?” Tony finally got to their location, seeing the swarm of giant, mutated wolves running down the streets of New York City. </p><p>Oh. Hellhounds. </p><p>“Tony, keep them from splitting off and take as many out as you can from the air, Clint Vision, you help. I want them kept within a few block perimeter, the police already have it set up. Nat, Wanda, Bucky, Thor, stick with me on the ground. Strange, do you have the magic-user? Strange?”</p><p>“I’ve got him.” Strange’s orange portal thingie showed up near the epicenter of the wolf swarm, near a red portal pouring more of them out. </p><p>“Close the portal first, then get him under control. Good?” A chorus of agreements pour through the coms after Steve finishes his plan, but Tony isn’t really listening. He’s too busy ignoring the part of his brain going “Puppies!” when he sees the wolves. </p><p>Take them out from the sky. Keep them close. Yea, he can do that. He can do that, he’s Iron Man. Not a little. He’s fine. </p><p>“Sir -”</p><p>“If you’ve got anything to say that isn’t about this mission, can it, J.” He growled, before launching himself into the fight. </p><p>It’s easier to keep himself grounded when he’s focusing on the mission. Much simpler than trying to distract himself in the lab. There’s no complicated wirework and calculations, just fly, shoot, dodge, fly, shoot, dodge. He’s still floaty, still so, so floaty, but he doesn’t drop, and that’s what matters. </p><p>Before he can even realize it, Steve’s announcing that Strange has the magic-user who called the wolves forward and the portal is closed, so they just need to wrap up the strays. There aren’t as many of them as he realized, the fight must have been going on for a while. How long? How many did he hit? </p><p>Maybe he was more floaty than he realized. </p><p>But he’s aware enough to see the giant black wolf sneaking up behind Clint as he takes a breather. </p><p>“Clint!” Tony lands behind him just as the dog lunges, but he’s not coordinated enough right now to get the dog off him. His limbs are too heavy and he can feel its fangs sinking through the suit like it’s nothing. Metal is shrieking as claws dig into his chest plate and his head bangs against the back of his helmet as he falls down and he can’t - can’t get his arm up to shoot the thing, not even sure he remembers how to shoot in the first place. </p><p>The wolf howls as it’s knocked off him, a bloody shield sticking out of its neck. </p><p>“Tony!” Someone yells. He’s being picked up, voices talking around him, but it’s all hidden behind a nice layer of fuzz. He’s so very tired, and someone’s carrying him, rocking him back and forth and oh… that’s nice… </p><p>He falls asleep, feeling happy and small and just a little bit scared. </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Tony wakes up to beeping machines, itchy gauze around his chest, and the icky smell of hospitals. When he opens his eyes, he can tell that he’s definitely in a hospital, even though he really, really doesn’t like them. Doctors are scary, they always ask him a lotta questions that he doesn’t know the answers too but they think he will, and Howard always gets really mad when he’s got to go into one. He doesn’t like it when Howard gets mad, he locks Tony in the closet and it’s really dark in there and he gets scared because sometimes Howard gives him owies too. </p><p>There’s no one else in his room, and he doesn’t have Bubbles or his blankie or paci even though he really wants them. He’s scared. He doesn’t like hospitals, and he doesn’t like being all alone in one either. He just wants to go back to his room where Jarvis will play lullabies and he can curl up in bed and Bubbles will tell him stories about him and the other robots playing in the lab. </p><p>Tony tries to get out of bed so he can go upstairs to his room, but it hurts his chest and his shoulder. Even when he tries to push himself up onto his feet his knees crumble and he falls to the floor, which only hurts his shoulder and chest more, and it makes all the icky wires tug on him and the machines start beeping really fast and loud and he doesn’t like it so he starts crying because he just wants Bubbles! </p><p>Someone comes in and helps him sit back on the bed and fixes up all the tubes and wires that were tugging on him and hurting but they don’t get him Bubbles and he’s still hurting and scared because they’ve got the doctor coats on and they’re going to ask him questions that he can’t answer. </p><p>He just wants to go to his room. He just wants his suffice. </p><p>He just wants a hug. </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Steve gets a text from Dr. Cho that Tony’s awake just as he’s finishing up his shower after the fight. The briefing had gone much longer than expected since someone got hurt, and then Strange started a fight with Fury over not meddling in magick affairs and whatnot. He didn’t pay much attention to it. Aliens and Gods and smartphones were plenty for him, he did not need magic on top of it all. </p><p>Cho had told him that Tony was going to be fine, so he hadn’t been worried enough to stall his shower. All he’d needed was some stitches since the suit protected him from the worse of it all. But she’d said something was wrong with Tony’s vitals or something, though she wouldn’t go into details. </p><p>That was worrying. Vitals were, well, vital. Still, it wasn’t something he could deal with, so he’d gone about like normal, trying to tame his inner caregiver that was also so eager to coddle Tony. </p><p>Tony would hate him for it. He hated himself for it. Tony was a baseline, he couldn’t… </p><p>Then, a second text appears. </p><p> </p><p>
  <i>Come quick. Bring a spare pacifier.</i>
</p><p> </p><p>Steve had no idea what that meant, or what was happening, but like hell was he going to ignore it. He ran down the hall to Bucky’s nursery where he’d sleep when he was dropped and grabbed a spare pacifier before heading to the elevator. </p><p>“Med bay Jarvis.”</p><p>“Captain, if I may suggest going to Sir’s floor first. There is an item there that I believe will be quite useful right now.” Jarvis brought the elevator up before Steve could even reply. </p><p>“Okay…” Jarvis would know best how to help Tony, so he followed the AI’s instructions to Tony’s bedroom and the little wooden chest on the floor. </p><p>Inside was a plush robot, a white pacifier, and a small quilt. </p><p>He grabbed all three and headed down to the med bay, refusing to think about why Tony had them in his room and why Jarvis said to get them until he saw what was happening.<br/>
Even though he knew. Steve was smarter than people gave him credit for and contrary to what Tony liked to tease him about, littles and classifications were well known back in the forties.</p><p> Things were just… a little more outdated. Littles were legally required to have a caregiver no matter their age. They couldn’t hold a job, had to fight to get a secondary education, let alone go to college, and usually, they were expected to always be in little space. </p><p>Bucky had hidden his classification. Steve couldn’t work, he was far too sick, so Bucky said he was a baseline and did it for them, only dropping on the weekends when Steve would do his best to be a semi-decent caregiver. The plan worked… until the draft started. As a registered baseline, Bucky was signed up. And picked. Steve’s little went to war. </p><p>That was the real reason he’d agreed to the serum. He’d have done anything to go protect his little. </p><p>But then the fall happened. Hydra got him. They used Bucky’s little side to manipulate and hurt him and now… Bucky was still struggling with that part of him, with not being terrified of it and learning that it’s safe now. In this century, Natasha was his caregiver, not Steve. Bucky usually forgot how to speak English when he dropped, and Natasha knew the things Hydra did to littles, so she knew how to prevent triggers better than Steve ever could. </p><p>He was okay with it. Really. All he wanted was for Bucky to be safe again. </p><p>It just left him with no one to care for. And he hated that. </p><p>So… yea. Tony having secret little gear stashed under his bed, having problems with his vitals and hormones, Cho calling Steve down in a hurry, as the only caregiver on the team with no little to care for right now, since both Clint and Bucky normally dropped after missions? </p><p>He knew what was happening, which was why he wasn’t surprised at all when he entered Tony’s hospital room to find him wailing in bed as a nurse tried to offer him a lollipop to calm down. </p><p>“Do you know how old?” He asked Dr. Cho, before heading in. </p><p>“He couldn’t stand, so pretty young. Don’t know how much since he’s been crying ever since. Thank you, Steve.” She laid her hand on his shoulder, before leading her nurses away. Steve took a deep breath, the smile on his face very real as he slowly opened the door. </p><p>“Hey there, Tony,” he cooed, walking over to the seat the nurse just left. “I brought something for you. Do you want to see it? Jarvis said you’d like it a lot.”</p><p>“B-Bubbles?” Tony looked up, still crying. “’s Bubbles?” Bubbles must be the robot plush then. </p><p>“Mmhm. He was really worried about you,” Steve holds up the robot, making him walk across the bed. “He kept telling me he wanted to give you a big ol’ hug.” Tony giggled, making grabby hands at the doll until he could reach him and give him a hug. </p><p>“’s my stuffie,” he sniffled, making the toy wave.</p><p>“He’s a very good stuffie.” Steve waved back, getting a giggle from Tony. “I brought you something else, Tony. Do you want to see?” He nodded, so Steve held up the quilt and the pacifier. </p><p>Tony squealed in excitement, reaching out for both of them. Steve draped the blanket over his lap, making sure to tuck him in as best he could with the small square, before giving him the pacifier. Having all three of his comfort items calmed Tony the rest of the way, and he snuggles up under the nice blankets of the med bay beds, blinking slowly. </p><p>“Are you tired, honey?” Steve asked. Tony nods slowly. “Alright. Sleep well, bug. I’ll be right here when you wake up.” Steve ran his hands through Tony’s soft hair until his breathing finally evened out into the easy lull of sleep. </p><p>“He’s a little then?” Steve glanced up to see Natasha leaning against the doorway. </p><p>“Yea. He’s been hiding it though. Dr. Cho mentioned his vitals were off, so he’s probably not been dropping. All he had on his floor was this.” Steve gestured to the blanket, doll, and pacifier, frowning. Bucky had had more gear, and that was during the Depression when they were struggling to pay rent every month. Tony had fully furnished Bucky’s nursery and Clint’s kiddie bedroom, since Clint’s age range was never young enough for a nursery, without even blinking an eye. The only reason that this was all he had, was pure self-denial. </p><p>And none of them realized. The signs were all there, now that he looked back at it. Tony was always so clingy, hugging and cuddling and being as close as he could with anyone and everyone. He’d cut all his food up way too small, something everyone just thought was a fun quirk of his. He was practically textbook with the cranky anger, mood swings, and knee jerk reactions of a little gone too long without a drop. They should have noticed. But they didn’t. </p><p>So Tony just suffered in silence. </p><p>God Steve just wanted to hit himself. He was such a bad caregiver. </p><p>“Don’t beat yourself up over it, Steve. He’s been hiding it for his whole life, he’s got it down to a T.” Nat sighed. Damn it. How could she always tell? </p><p>“Why would he hide it though? It’s not like it’d stop him from being Iron Man or designing for Stark Industries. I thought it was supposed to be better for littles now.” </p><p>“Being a little and a CEO would have been hard,” Natasha said slowly. “But… I think the real reason is Howard. He wasn’t the man you knew. Not when he was raising Tony. He wouldn’t hire littles at SI until he was sued for job discrimination, and even then it was clear they didn’t hire many. I doubt he’d have reacted well to his son being one.” </p><p>“You don’t have to watch your words, Nat. Howard was a self-centered dick when I knew him. There were littles in the Red Cross and the SSR, even if they weren’t allowed to fight, and he was always rude about it.” Steve scowled. “Bucky nearly hit him every time he’d get drunk and go off about it. He did a few times. Wish Stark Phones were around then, I think Tony would enjoy those vintage movies.” </p><p>“I’m sure he would.” Nat laughed, before slapping a hand over her mouth as they looking to see if Tony would wake. He stirred, whining slightly, but settled down once Steve went back to running his fingers through his hair. </p><p>“I should probably get back to Bucky and Clint. Phil’s not here yet, but Clint dropped like a bag of bricks as soon as we were back. Feels bad about Tony getting hurt, I’d bet. Bruce is watching them right now, but well…” Natasha shrugs. Steve smiled in understanding. Bruce was a baseline and not one who was particularly fond of children, little or not. He usually made himself scarce when Clint and Bucky were in headspace, though sometimes he’d do kid-level experiments with them, which was always messy. </p><p>To be fair, Clint was always a messy kid. </p><p>“Go save the doctor. We’ll be alright here.” </p><p>“You sure?”</p><p>Steve looked down at Tony, sleeping peacefully even with the tear tracks still stark on his face. His quilt was pulled right up under his chin, with Bubbles held tightly to his chest. He’d curled up on his side, scrunched up tight, with his paci half falling out. He was completely adorable. </p><p>“Yea. We’re going to be just fine.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Okay explanation time! Classification/non-sexual age play fics are usually set in some sort of world where you get a classification of caregiver, baseline, or little at a specific age. some people add other classifications like dom, sub, alpha, omega, etc to the mix. As the name suggests, the relationship between a caregiver and a little is entirely non-sexual. any romantic involvement ONLY occurs when the little is in big headspace since when they are in little headspace, they have the mental state of a child (the age varies from baby-12/13, tho the cap varies). They are an actual child and are NOT pretending. They just happen to have an adult body.</p><p>This is called age regression, and so nsap fics are essentially just a world where age regression is widely known and accepted. Age regression is in no way similar to kink age play like ddlg, as there is no sexual element at all. In fact, age regression is normally used as a coping skill for depression, anxiety, etc, and is used by some therapists as a method of treatment in some cases. It's perfectly healthy and not something to be ashamed of at all, and part of why i love these types of fics is because they show that so well. If you're interested in learning more about age regression, there are plenty of resources, but make sure you look for age regression or agere, because that's the not-kink stuff.</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>